Where is Armenia?
Armenia is a sunny country. It is situated in the south Caucasus. Armenia is located in the Alps-Himalayan system of the mountains and occupies the northern and eastern part of the Armenian highlands. This country has no exit to the sea. The northern side of it is adjacent to Georgia, north-eastern and south-western parts border with Azerbaijan. The border with Turkey lies to west, in the east the country border with Nagorno-Karabakh and with Iran in the south. The maximum length form the south-east directly to the north-west is currently 360 km, from the east to the west is 200 kilometers. The total area of Armenia is approximately 29,8 thousand square kilometers.
Relief
Topography of Armenia is determined by its location on the Armenian plateau. There are a lot of mountain ranges (approximately 47% of the territory). There are many volcanic mountains, intermountain hollows, plateaus and plains. Speaking about the peculiarities of nature, we should tell that the indigenous population even wrote a legend: after the creation of the earth God noticed that it was stony. He did not like such view very much. Then he gathered up all the stones in one huge pile and asked the nations, created by him: who wants to live here? Every nation refused except the Armenians. Even today the people of Armenia are particularly proud of this fact.
Approximately ninety per cent of the territory of present Armenia is situated at a height of more than a thousand meters above sea level. The lowest point is located in the gorge through which the river Debed flows (380 m). The highest point in Armenia is located on mount Aragats (4090 m).
There are a lot of mountains in Armenia. The highest mountains are:
Aragats – the height is 4090 meters.
Kaputdzhukh – the height is 3906 m,
Adzhaak – the height is 3598 m,
Spitakasar – the height is 3555 m,
Vardenis – the height is 3522 meters.
Climate
The subtropical climate is typical climate for Armenia. The high mountains have a significant impact on the climatic conditions. For this reason, summer is usually hot like in the continental climate zone. The average air temperature in summer is +25 C. Winter is relatively cold; the average temperature is -6C. The largest amount of precipitation falls in spring and in early summer. Although it should be noticed that weather conditions vary depending on the region.
Longest Rivers
Akhuryan - 186 km
Araks – 158 kilometers (total length - 1,072 kilometers)
Debed – 152 kilometers (total length - 178 kilometers)
Razdan - 141 km
Vorotan –119 kilometers (total length - 179 kilometers)
Agstev – 99 kilometers (total length - 133 kilometers)
Lakes
There are a lot of lakes in Armenia. These are the largest of them:
Lake Sevan –the total surface area is 1200 square kilometers
Lake Arpi - the total surface area is 22 square kilometers
Lake Akna - the total surface is 0.53 square kilometers
Lake Sev – the total surface area is 2,0 square kilometers
Spring Waters
Mineral water, passing through the layers of different readily soluble rocks (dolomite, limestone, magnetite), is filled with gases and salts. This gives various medicinal properties. More than 500 mineral springs of volcanic origin were identified on the territory of modern Armenia. The famous Borzhom Spring (carbonate-alkaline water) is located near Dilijan. Also you can find mineral springs on the western coast of great Lake Sevan. There are also thermal springs, one of which is Jermuk. Its temperature is about 55 C. It is almost similar to the mineral waters of Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) in medicinal and composition properties.